Making a car for blind drivers, by Dennis Hong

In this recently released TED talk, Dennis Hong from VirginiaTech presents all the recent developments of his RoMeLa Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory and also the aim of developing a car that could be driven safely by a blind driver. The prototypes use a significant part of the technology developed for autonomous vehicles that participated on DARPA’s challenge competitions like IMU’s, Lidar and optical sensors. However here it is combined with interfaces that use tactical, acoustic or other feedback that substitutes the optical awareness that a blind driver lacks with feedback from his or hers other senses. In the video presentation along with some very innovative robots you can see a demonstration of such a car that took place in the Daytona speedway in January.